The inspection of containers can be accomplished in several ways. One way is to look into the container from its filling opening or mouth and either rotate the container or not rotate it and rotate the scanning device. Another way is to illuminate the container from the side and rotate the container while in the view of the scanning device. Still other ways are to combine the first two inspection means by using some features and omitting other features. High speed container movement greatly restricts the character of means that can be used to obtain the desired inspection results, such as means wherein the containers must be rotated to obtain a scan of the interior. When rotation is not feasible then multiple stop inspection stations and individual scanning devices for each station are sometimes used.
An electronic inspection apparatus has been disclosed in Richards U.S. Pat. No. 2,798,605 where a plurality of television cameras are used to inspect bottles from a plurality of angles. In this disclosure each view of the bottle required an individual camera, or several observations could be made simultaneously since there were several cameras available for that purpose. The cameras in this patent are not capable of making observations from several different sides of the container, and as a result the apparatus is exceedingly expensive and requires more space along the conveyor than is normally available. The complexity of tuning a plurality of cameras is very great and the possibilities of the containers deviating from a desired path adds to the problem of obtaining sharp pictures and accurate inspection.